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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 278 217
:AUTHOR
,TITLE
PUB DATE
NOTE
FL 016 343
James, Charles H.
From Principles to Protocols: The Contributions of
John B. Carroll and Robert Lado to the Testing of
Listening Comprehension.
MaY 86
54p.; Paper presented at the Language Testing
Symposium (Quiryat Anavim, Israel, May 11-13,
1986).
PUB TYPE
EDRS PRICE
DESCRIPTORS
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
In the two major sections of this paper the influence
of John B. Carroll and Robert Lado on the teaching and testing of
listening comprehension since 1961 is examined. The first section
reviews the literature of that field and outlines four major periods
roughly corresponding to the methodological orientation dominating
professional thinking at the time. They include: the era of
discretion (1961-1968), in which language learning was viewed as a
set of empirical phenomena reducible to manageable and definable
segments; the era of cognition (1969-73), which stressed the
learner's understanding of what he was doing as he practiced elements
of the target language; the threshhold era (1974-81), which
emphasized the functions of language in realistic situations; and the
proficiency era (1982-1986), which focused on what speakers actually
do with language in various specific situations, for various reasons,
with various degrees of accuracy. The second section proposes and
discusses the immediate recall protocol, a technique for listening
comprehension test item development which is based on the testing
insights gained during that 25-year period and which seems to focus
the principles elaborated by Carroll and Lado. The protocol involves
having learners listen to a foreign language text and write down, in
their native language, everything that they can remember about the
text. A list of references, sample texts and test items, and a
selective bibliography are appended. (MSE)
***********************************************************************
^
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
Paper presented at the Language and Testing Symposium, Quiryat Anavim, Israel
May 11-13 1986
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Charles %7.
James
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
53706
USA
If one were to
For any
PRINCIPLES
The fortunes of
1961
1973:
For
Reading - Writing,"
Holistic or
It
was better to be discrete, and not talk about things that were
larger than the sentence.
point testing had been use in the United States as far back as
the early 1920s, when they were introduced as "new-type" tests,
scored by a special staff of clerks under expert supervision"
(Cole, 1931: 391).
Nonetheless,
The Carroll-Sapon
utterances.
g2gperative Foreign Language'asts, Forms LA and LB for presecondary, Forms MA and MB for secondary, and the MLA Foreign
proficiency
It thus
The simplest
ab&ndoned, but there are better ways [to test]" (1964: 161).
The Era of Discretion ended quietly in the United States
with the publication of the results from the so-called
"Pennsylvania Project," a large-scale attempt to contrast
audiolingual methodology with methodologies that had preceded it,
called "traditional" or "grammar-translation methodologies."
Issues of Modern Languaga_Jaurnal (1969) and Foreign Language
Annals (1969) devoted most of their pagination to various aspects
of the project, and should be referred to.
I say "methodologies"
Nonetheless a
the Era of Discretion, Carroll had already warned against overenthusiasm for discrete-point teaching and testing:
10
For others it
meant explaining more and more about the target language in the
native language.
Neither
Speaking
Reading
Writing," frequently
1) Sound
The
11
10
Comprehension,
to be developed.
12
11
Many
13
12
With its
exercises and test was thus emphasized, that is, how people
actually deal with incoming oral (aural) language and how this is
manifested in the structures and vocabulary they nee'd when
14
13
While it may be
15
14
What this
16
15
E a
However,
Briefly
The "variety"
must,
In 1982
17
16
techniques ranging from those which segment the audio stream into
minimal pairs or into individual sounds to be reproduced in a
written transcription (dictation) or individual situations to
which the learner is expected to react through pictures or
actions, to those techniques which attempt to bring whole texts
into play with all the segmental and suprasegmental information
available for listener processing.
18
17
skills which are difficult to test separately (at least with the
Lnstruments available during the 1960s and 1970s).
The teaching
the absence
His
In the
the
19
18
once.
In practice,
1986).
The
20
19
How does the immediate recall protocol fit into the history
of language testing, especially into the history of listening
comprehension testing?
21
20
highly
The
This
22
21
It is now possible to
23
22
technical excuses for not increasing the amount and the variety
of listening material in our classrooms.
He then says:
specific
24
23
The last
It is
25
24
Although he was
no more."
If,
2. Ithat_Igqawqtrial.
auditory comprehension leads."
Experience shows,
2R
25
include another problem that may be even more difficult than the
one we wish to test."
5. Limitati9n of Pictures.
"[T]here is a point of
There is a
27
26
and other visual aids when they (the examinees) are forming
mental visualizations of the propositions being presented
aurally.
comprehension should
27
One
Indeed,
The
The running
28
Specific place
First of all, the title of text contains the label "Text B."
Text A is a longer, more detailed version of the content, used in
class as a preparation for Text B, which in turn was part of an
examination.
although they did not know ahead of time that this particular
text would be part of an examination. As a result, the protocols
may seem remarkably detailed and difficult to distinguish
qualitatively from one another, except in the extremes.
version (Text A) all had some idea as to what the dialogue was
about.
Secondly, a number of
29
of each protocol.
polished protocols.
In other words,
31
30
Some
For
32
31
students into relocating the entire scene from a lake (der See)
to the ocean (die See), producing responses such as "directly on
the sea."
2,
It.,111 10
6,
7,
=IBM.
The use of the immediate recall protocol for listening
comprehension testing is in its beginning stages. -In the United
States, the years since 1982 have been dominated by discussion of
language proficiency, which has in turn been dominated by the
Oral Proficiency Interview, as developed by the ILR, ETS, and
ACTFL.
that colleagues like Carroll and Lado have been advocating the
implementation of materials and techniques that reflect realistic
33
32
between purely discrete-point testing procedures with teachergenerated items and global procedures with student-generated
samples.
At the
REFERENCES
Guidelines. Hastings-on-Hudson, NY:
ligsara_Lanaluat_oa,
l'Europe, 1976.
Curran, Charles. Couns,elinq:Learning in Second Languages. Apple
River, IL: Apple River Press, 1976.
Duker, Sam, ed. lalt9ning:Teadings. New York, NY: The Scarecrow
Press, 1966.
35
ungluag_ii.
335-40.
Newmark, G. & E. Diller "Emphasizing the Audio in the AudioLingual Approach." Modern Language Journal 48 (1964): 18-20.
36
1979.
T.ejuhiaa_L.uteuaas.
si_jaual
3-21 in Karl C. Diller, ed. Luiv
in Language Learning Aptitude. Rowley, MA: Newbury House
Publishers, 1981.
Winitz, Harris, ed. The Comprehension Approach in Foreign
Language Instruction. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1981.
37
38
APPENDIX B
19
[LH - 28] A man asks a woman for help in planning a trip this
summer in Finland. The woman suggests a package deal including
He is
The man wants to take a vacation in Finland.
[TJ - 16]
talking w/ the travel agent about pcssible summerhouses to go &
various places he could stay. Travel from Travemande to Helsinki
by ship is agreed to be the best. He decides to stay at a small
He will be
cabin (w/ a small kitchen) near Kangasniemi.
traveling w/ his wife & three kids so he doesn't want a cruise,
but the cabin is just right for him & his family. The cabin is
directly on the Ocean.
They will be leaving in June.
Kangasniemi is between Mikkeli & Jyv&sky15..
[SR
15]
The man wants to take his wife and three children on a
three week vacation in Finland. The travel agent offered two
The man wanted to stay in a cottage in Kangasniemi and
packages.
she offered to arrange a ferry trip from Helsinki but he
preferred to drive a van.
He wanted to know how much it would
They arranged what he wanted. His starting point was
cost.
Travemande and he arranged to take a ferry from their to
Helsinki.
his
his
two
and
by
by
by
by
ship.
car.
plane.
ferry.
cooperative.
indifferent.
impatient.
calm.
Kansilasti
Kangasniemi
Kantotuoli
Kansankieli
7. Which one of the following words did you hear on the tape?
a. Hauschen
b. 145.uschen
c. Faustchen
d. B&umchen
8. After the man reads the basic information, what does he say?
a.
b.
c.
d.
9. If you were the woman, what would you say at the end of the
tape?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The man wants to take his wife and three children on a three
week vacation in Finland. The man wanted to stay in a cottage in
Kangasniemi and she offered to arrange a ferry trip from Helsinki
but he preferred to drive a van. He wanted to know how much it
His starting point was Travemnde and he arranged to
would cost.
take a ferry from there to Helsinki.
c.
He speaks
This man wishes to go to Finland with his family.
with a travel agent who is trying to offer him suggestions as to
He decides to rent a summer house located on
where he might go.
a lake, 50 square meters in area, with a sauna. It is located
near Helsinki.
d.
Lado, Robert.
Foreign Language Tests New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company,
pp. 46-77, 204-22.
1961.
A Factortgl Analysis.
Spearitt, D. Listening Comprehension
Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Council for Education Research,
1962.
1964
Lado, Robert.
NY: McGraw-Hill, 1964. - pp. 158-70.
New York,
43
1967
pp. 38-43.
ZtalrUgyjagliab_a_s_ae.
Harris, David P.
NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969. - pp. 32-47.
New York,
1970
ku.,
1972/
Carroll, John B. "Defining Language Comprehension: Some
Speculations," 1-30 in John B. Carroll and Roy C. Freedle, ed.
pnguage Comprehension and the Acauisition of Knowledge.
Washington, DC: V.H. Winston & Sons, 1972. - pp. 14-24.
Richardson, Charles P. "Teachers, students, and media as coagents in learning," 295-320 in Dale L. Lange and Charles J.
James, eds. Foreign Language Education: A Reappraisal. Skokie,
IL: National Textbook Company, 1972. - pp. 300-06.
Rivers, Wilga M. gpeakina in Many Tongues. Essays in ForeignLanguage Teaching. Rowley, MA: Newbury House Pulbishers, Inc.,
pp.
1972, 1976; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
78-88; 105/06.
1973
1974
Comprehension of Hi....ah_agho
Classes.
1975.
1977
pp.
246-49.
aluituts..
a is
veme t Scor s of FL t 11- t r
Ph.D. thesis, Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee,
nd
1978.
Boylan
Patricia Crego.
1979
ournal
1980
unausisg_linnalL
1981
49
McCoy, Ingeborg H., & David M. Weible. "Foreign Languages and the
New Media: The Videodisc and the Microcomputer," 105-52 in
Charles J. James, ed. Practical Applications of Research in
Foreign Language Teaching. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook
pp. 122/23, 134.
Company, 1983.
Omaggio, Alice C. Proficiency-Oriented Classroom Testing.
Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1983.
pp. 13-25.
Richards, Jack C. "Listening Comprehension: Approach, Design,
Procedure." TESOL Quarterly 17 (1983): 219-40.
Stevenson, Douglas K. "Foreign Language Testing: All of the
Above," 153-203 in Charles J. James, ed. Practical Applications
1984
Meyer, Rene. "'Listen:my children, and you shall hear ... '"
Forei-gn Language Anna1s_17 (1984) : 343-44.
lyrEhmm. ""7.:Lst- mmm. _L=pmrehension and the Young Second
...."7-EtImelma.:Language Annals 17 (1984) : 519-24.
aid Par-T
1ttructional and Individual Differences
anguage Oroficiency Attainment. Ph.D. thesis,
Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, 1984.
LME=
a Second
1985
ra_tanjals,Beaslincl_lidllnal
1==
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_
_